Martial Arts

Bistrup666

Loyal Freddie
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Naetha said:
Anyone do any martial arts here to a significant level (i.e. for more than a year)?

I used to do shukokai karate when I was 15, but had to quit when I went to Uni, just before my brown belt grading.

Thinking of taking up karate or tae-kwon-do again to get myself in better shape (I'm pretty fit, but about as flexible as a brick) and to vent some fury.

Can anyone recommend any clubs around Leeds for good solid martial arts training (specific rather than generic though - I don't like clubs that teach martial arts in general rather than specifically karate or TKD)?

Also kinda curious to see what martial arts (if any) people here do :)


I'm training Taekwondo and been so for 15 years now 2'nd dan atm and to lazy to go get the next ;)

Been an instructor for 8 years now too. Took a little break 3 years ago to try out some heavy ground fighting so been doing some vale tudo (free fighting, Ultimate fighting all the same different names ). So now my poor students has abit of that in their taekwondo training when I teach

Doing both basic and competition Taekwondo but now I'm an old man so more at the competition as a ref then as a competitor ;)

Anyways hope U find what U R looking for and have fun :drink:
 

TheBinarySurfer

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Bistrup666 said:
I'm training Taekwondo and been so for 15 years now 2'nd dan atm and to lazy to go get the next ;)

Been an instructor for 8 years now too. Took a little break 3 years ago to try out some heavy ground fighting so been doing some vale tudo (free fighting, Ultimate fighting all the same different names ). So now my poor students has abit of that in their taekwondo training when I teach

Doing both basic and competition Taekwondo but now I'm an old man so more at the competition as a ref then as a competitor ;)

Anyways hope U find what U R looking for and have fun :drink:
I'm hardly old, but i find the same thing increasingly - teaching is more and more what i do or refereeing occasionally - active competition is a young mans game (you need to be able to heal well LOL).

One last comment - i'd suggest trying out 2-3 martial arts over a years period before sticking with one - they're kinda like girls - you might think you know it all after doing one for a few months, but in reality you know a lot about a little ;)

Crude i know but its 1530 and im stuck here on another Pi****g conference call still and my rvr starts in 3.5 hours... /Yawn.
 

Lamp

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I can't speak for anyone else but once I got my first black belt I realised that in practice, I'd only just started !!

I'm a 3rd Dan now and still feel the same way whenever I meet the head of my style !
 

Spis

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Lamp said:
I can't speak for anyone else but once I got my first black belt I realised that in practice, I'd only just started !!

I'm a 3rd Dan now and still feel the same way whenever I meet the head of my style !


Could you explain the "Dan" thing? is it teh number of black belts, or? :p
 

TheBinarySurfer

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Lamp said:
I can't speak for anyone else but once I got my first black belt I realised that in practice, I'd only just started !!

I'm a 3rd Dan now and still feel the same way whenever I meet the head of my style !
Agreed, 2nd here and theres always someone further up the food chain. Its an important reality check for everyone when a 10stone nothing 60 year old man can hand a fit guy in his 20's his ass 10-10 times ;)

Dan is generally just a term that refers to level attained within the Black Belt. Unknown to most outside martial arts, a Black Belt (1st Dan) is not the highest attainable belt in most forms / styles. It goes up to 9th in mine for example - although in reality anyone over 4th is fairly rare.

In Judo - 4th is the last rank you can attain purely through technique and fighting ability - beyond that other criteria are taken into consideration when atempting promotion. Don't know how various other forms treat the Dan gradings...
 

Lamp

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"Dan" is a degree of black belt. The higher the "dan" the more proficient (in theory) the martial artist is. See: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dan_rank

In my style of jui jitsu, the belts go like this

White (starter)
Yellow
Orange
Green
Purple
Blue 1
Blue 2
Brown
Black Belt 1st Dan
Black Belt 2nd Dan
Black Belt 3rd Dan

3rd Dan > 2nd Dan > 1st Dan > Brown > Blue 2 etc etc

In my style, you have to be INVITED to go beyond brown belt.

As Binary mentioned above, some styles allow you to attain to x-dan, and above that, you can only get them by making significant contributions to the martial art.

Read the Wikipedia article above. Should clarify things 4 u.
 

Spis

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Can you see on the belt which "Dan" he is? :p

And now i need to know.. Which Dan is Chuck Norris?! :D
 

Lamp

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This is the outfit I wore when I was a 1st Dan :

800px-G_Blaize_Kokiu_Nague_2.JPG


At 2nd, there's a black overtunic with the sleeves removed that goes over the white gi top. Your hakama get presented to you at brown / 1st dan when you become a club instructor. My 3rd dan overtunic is full length black. I look like Darth Vadar in it. Rocks !!

In my style the belts are bereft of design, so no.

In most other m-arts, ranks may be indicated on belts by stripes or numbers or kanji

In my style, we're known by name and reputation rather than garish outfits and patterns.
 

Spis

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So actually, the more black you are, the more badass ?
 

Lamp

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Spis said:
So actually, the more black you are, the more badass ?

Yes, although replace "more black" with "more senior grade" and you've hit the nail on the head.
 

Naetha

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Spis said:
Can you see on the belt which "Dan" he is? :p

And now i need to know.. Which Dan is Chuck Norris?! :D

According to www.chucknorris.com he is an 8th Dan in Tae Kwon Do, although it says nothing about his acheivements in Karate, other than that he was world champion 5 times.
 

Spis

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Lamp, how many more of your skill would it take to bring down Chuck Norris for good? :D
 

Lamp

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I reckon I could take down Chuck Norris with a beard trimmer, a picture of Mr T., and a tube of Lube-O.
 

Spis

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Are there championships where diffrent types of material arts fight each other? Instead of just karate dude vs karate dude.. you get the point.. ;)
 

Bistrup666

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I'll find U a pic of me at last graduation if U wanna see. I'm the ugly one there so won't be hard to pick out hehe.
 

Eeben

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Spis said:
Are there championships where diffrent types of material arts fight each other? Instead of just karate dude vs karate dude.. you get the point.. ;)

Mixed martial arts fighting :)
 

Lamp

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Spis said:
Are there championships where diffrent types of material arts fight each other? Instead of just karate dude vs karate dude.. you get the point.. ;)

Probably - most of them illegal in the UK.

I'm not really interested in that kinda stuff. My martial art is PURELY for self-defence purposes only. I'm not remotely interested in beating people up and getting rep for being a badass. Your karate and kick-boxing types might be, but not me.

In the USA there are Ultimate Fighting Championchips. I used to be kinda interested in that stuff, but it doesn't prove anything. Its one guy beating another one guy. It doesn't mean that style is better than the other style. Such comparisons are kinda meaningless and futile.
 

Afran

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Naetha said:
Yeah, unfortunately that was in North Wales, and I've moved to Leeds now, but there seem to be a few good clubs in Leeds. I'll give one a try in a couple of weeks - gonna try and drag my hubby along as well, although he's not as fit as me so may struggle a little ;)

I live in Leeds now aswell (well, the border, at Otley) which I trained at for a few years, I used to live at the Isle of Wight which is where I first started though. Can't say I've really looked into Dojo's at Leeds :p I'm in no fit shape at the moment though, would need to put a lot of work in if I started again ;<
 

Bistrup666

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Spis said:
Are there championships where diffrent types of material arts fight each other? Instead of just karate dude vs karate dude.. you get the point.. ;)

there is ;)

MMA as stated above tho there is alot of rules else there is Vale Tudo wich varies from next to no rules to close to MMA rules, depending on the country U fight in ;)
 

Lamp

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In my style of Jitsu, our guiding principle is "Ju yoku go a sei seru" - meaning "the soft conquers the hard" - ie you can beat stronger opponents by yielding to their force and re-directing it.
 

TheBinarySurfer

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Lamp said:
In my style of Jitsu, our guiding principle is "Ju yoku go a sei seru" - meaning "the soft conquers the hard" - ie you can beat stronger opponents by yielding to their force and re-directing it.
I was always taught simliar - theres always someone stronger than you out there, not necessarily someone smarter though. In a fight between two well-conditioned people of a similar level it becomes much like a game of chess but with your bodies and minds instead of a board and pieces.
 

confused

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Personally I train in Jitsu, very useful for any random people who've had a few to many and you just want to put them down before anybody gets hurt. However I've just started going to some bjj sessions recently, which have been very much different from what I've done before, and I've found the randori etc, from my submission fighting before has come to me much easier than most of the novices. Mucho enjoyment :D
 

Lamp

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*closes eyes and waits for latest update from Bugz*

:)
 

Wonk

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Anybody got any experience with Wing Tsun?
 

Bugz

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Taekwondo is something you should get into if you want a 'get you fit & have self-defense' type of martial art.

Just don't get stuck with a teacher that only teaches you what is required for the gradings as it's all useless in street fighting. Instead, you want a trainer that teaches the grading information yet also touches on the sparring side of it.

I must say though, don't think that because you can kick high or what-have-you, you are the King. Sparring is half thinking, half technique. If you don't think fast enough and ahead of the other fighter, you won't win.

Of course, if you want a fanny martial art, Lamp can teach you to talk the enemy to sleep - I'm sure that'll be useful ;) :D
 

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